Bodyboarding – My Love Affair

You might be wandering what in my right mind could have compelled me to quit my job and leave it all behind.

As a teen, my life revolved around bodyboarding. It was more than a sport it was a culture and we were loving the ride. The lifesaving days, parties, good mates, chicks and everything else could probably all be attributed to bodyboarding. We spent our days at the beach and when we weren’t in the water we were watching bodyboarding videos at home. I knew that one day I would have to go in search of some of the perfect hollow barrels seen in the ‘No friends’ series of videos.

Time went by and because we were all told that we couldn’t possibly consider bodyboarding as a career, we didn’t. University days came and went. I remember saying to the crew in 2010 that we should all go to Indo in 2015. I was being serious about it and I said 2015 because it would have given us the time we needed to save up for the trip. I remember some of the guys saying that we shouldn’t worry about it so far in advance and laughed it off…

The day came to start booking flights and guess what, I was flying out on ace. I was angry at first but finally realised that peoples passions and priorities change and I had to accept it. I know the day will come when our crew will be charging some of these breaks together as we planned many years ago.

I will never forget the feeling in me when we were about to land in Padang, Sumatra. I felt like a kid at Christmas, it was amazing. I was looking out of the airplane window as if I was going to see the perfect break from the air, it was pure excitement. I met up with Greig who has been setting up a surf camp in paradise for two years living his dream in the Mentawais. Thank for the inspiration Greigo.

We (my lady and I) ended up spending two months traveling around Indo. Starting in the Mentawais, heading down to Ujong Boccur (South Sumatra), South Sumatra and from there we went to Bali and one or two surrounding Islands and back to the Mentawais. Anybody who has been to Indo will know that two months just isn’t enough. It was a dream come true getting some of the best waves I could have asked for in my life and I want to return soon. I met some awesome guys along the way, guys with similar outlooks on life which keep me inspired to keep on keeping on.

Check out ‘The Mentawai guide for Mentawai virgins’ a guide I wrote to help you plan your trip to the Mentawais.

My Advice

Getting barreled is exhilarating and it keeps me coming back for more. If you love bodyboarding and are wandering whether or not you should spend your savings on trip to some of the most consistent breaks in the world. My advice would be to go for it. I have done it and I will do it again. You cannot put a price on fulfilling your desires and tackling your bucket list items.

The longer you wait, the more expensive it becomes and the less energy you will have to ride some of these monsters. When the waves are small I practice my stand up but I love pulling in deep on the boog when it’s gnarly.

I love this sport and will continue doing it until the day I die. Do you resonate with this or feel strongly about a particular activity? Leave a comment below

Thanks